I have not read as much of the Joe Hill comics as I would like. This was an impulse grab at the library, based simply on Joe Hill and the promise of a good story. I assumed with the title and the kinda pointed surreal art that it was a horror story. Dying is Easy is not in fact a horror story but a hard-boiled crime story. (Also an accident to have Father and Son crime stories back to back.
After reading it I kinda wish it had been a short Hard-case crime novel. That is the kinda story Dying is easy turned out to be. This will not be a long review I gotta be honest I am ass deep in a writing deadline and don't have a ton of mental bandwidth for reviews right now.
That said I enjoyed this graphic novel quite a bit, although a film or a pulp novel are two formats I felt better represented what I was looking for out of this story. Syd Homes is an ex-cop and a perfect hard-boiled character what makes him a little different is he is a wanna-be comedian.
He is not exactly super funny, most of his jokes draw on his shitty life as a cop to make the bulk of jokes which are not very PC, or really funny. I enjoyed this part and it provided an interesting set-up for the mystery. A comedian who has been stealing jokes ends up dead and Syd is framed for it.
The story is well crafted and the art is weird. I could see how the sharp surreal lines and edgy style might turn off some. Me, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
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